to strive for [mastry]

A hold of her hand was taken, seizing up her ability to escape in the case she continued to hold reservations. While Adrian had nodded wordlessly in response to the words of appreciation at accepting the invitation, regardless of the reasoning being as part of duty, it hadn't taken long afterwards for her to be delivered back unto the makeshift dance floor. Yet something was strange to her - something off that had caused her brows to twitch behind the cover of her mask curiously as her eyes trailed down her arm to where their hands had interlocked with each other. There was warmth that had placated the ranger's instinct to pull away but that was all that it had resulted in. Nothing in her yearned for anything more as her attention was brought upwards towards her dance partner's face.

Once it seemed as if the duo had found a spot, Sabrina would be the one that acted first in a rather forward manner at that. A grip on her hand slackened while another hand found itself placed to hip. It was an odd sensation, one that Adrian believed she would never get used to no matter how hard she tried, as a tense shiver crept up her spine. Luckily however this had not been the ginger's first experience with formal dancing and thus she had known these hand placements to generally correct, though it would not change how perturbed it made her. Nevertheless the Adrian would follow suit, fighting of the urge to recoil as her own hand would lay steadily on Sabrina's upper arm in time for the music to progress their step.

The compliment in regards to her dress had given her brief respite on these thoughts as her attention was redirected towards addressing the comment. Of course the dress, as exquisite and beautiful as it was, was a partial source of her ire that could not be ignored. Suppressing another urge to display revulsion at the mention of the gown, she could only offer one word towards it. "Thanks." Yet the topic of where she got it was another story, a clip of the memory replaying in her mind of how the dress had been forced upon her. That day in Jubilife coming to the forefront of her memory. "It was... a gift I suppose," a reluctant admission escaped her lips. With absolutely no desire to indulge on the matter further nor be questioned on her personal affairs, Adrian spoke quickly to shift the subject as she made a subtle turn among the gentle swaying of their forms. "Did you come alone? Surely there were better dance partners available than me."

There was an assurance to her words. One song was enough, the duration of her degradation restricted to that alone until she was able to return and resume to her evening of dutiful suffering. It was hardly a freedom, however if it had occupied her time and her thoughts then she would take solace in it. Yet it appeared this little dance was enough to amuse the second party here, Adrian making note of the expression on her face surrounding what was hidden by the mask itself. She could hardly understand why that was and she had interest in questioning it either.

As the melody carried their small charade, the swaying movements mixed with idle chatter, Sabrina's comment captures the ginger's attention and causing an inadvertent sense of dejection to pass through her chest. "Maybe..." she'd manage to reply in her usual aloof tone. If only that had been the case... yet Adrian had known better to cling to such ideals. Honestly the true purpose of the gift had been lost to her, despite having asked numerous times about it herself, and the fact it had been a dress had dampened the proposed notion the other woman was hinting towards. Of course the woman attempted to keep these thoughts to herself without lingering on them for too long, relieved that the topic shift had been taken up in turn.

Dancing with a cute girl she said. Adrian could hardly care about the identity of said person but that had meant that Sabrina had taken to dancing with women this entire night. While she was rather disinterested in this woman's personal affairs, she took note of that likely irrelevant information for now as she'd readjust her hand after the shoulder shrug. To each their own. What she had not expected, however, was the comment made afterwards - a comment that would momentarily bewilder the ranger as she struggled for an apt response. "Aha..." a breath of a dry laugh despite her lips' denial to smile in addition to it. Truthfully the compliment had caught her off guard, not used to anything of the sort being uttered by anyone except leery men. Plus she had made it a point to highlight her title as the commissioner here, which was also disconcerting as the two points did not seem... relevant to each other.

Regardless, Adrian attempted to salvage a response, her natural defensive disposition proving useful here. "That's an exaggeration. I imagine there are plenty that wouldn't."